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Netherlands Decided to Ban Monsanto’s RoundUp to Protect the People From Carcinogenic Glyphosate

The people in the Netherlands who have been spraying their gardens and lawns with RoundUp will have to find another method to protect the land from pests. At the end of the last year, the Dutch parliament voted and decided to ban the selling of herbicides based on glyphosate to private parties. The ban was proposed several years ago, under which agricultural use is expelled. Still, it is thought that Monsanto power prevented it from taking place at the time.

A huge factor in this vote is thought to be the Party for Animals, which is a political party in this country that places an emphasis of the rights and welfare of the animals and it aims to guide and influence political decisions. Their involvement in many things makes it hard for the parliament to not pay attention towards the environmental things like the use of glyphosate. This, connected with an increasing number of people living there who have shown concern about their health as it pertains to that chemical, led to that decision to ban it at the end of 2015.

As most people know, the glyphosate, which is the main ingredient in the Monsanto RoundUp, has been connected to everything starting from cancer and headaches to mood changes and skin rashes. The decision of the Dutch parliament represents an ideal move that the United States should embrace. Unluckily, we find ourselves stuck in a game filled with clever wordsmithing, loopholes and greed.

As an example, despite the fact that the IARC or the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is an arm of the WHO or World Health Organization, recently revealed a report stating that the glyphosate is “apparently carcinogenic to humans,” Monsanto keep up that the product is safe when is used as it is directed by the label. In addition, they are determined that the IARC findings are wrong, saying in a press release that among other things, the relevant, scientific data was excluded from the review.

Glyphosate was even debated during an episode of The Doctors in May 2015 in which the IARC report was the topic of the episode. During this episode, Dr. Donna Farmer, 20-year Monsanto scientist continually showed her confidence in the safety of glyphosate for human health, often saying that she is not just a scientist but a mother.

She said that he had seen those headlines and she knows people who have lots of questions. She is extremely, highly confident in that product as a mother and then she can back it up like a scientist. Also, her statement included mention of how Germany has discovered no problems with the glyphosate and that IARD also evaluates other potential health dangers like canned pickles and cell phone.

Dr. Farmer stood hard in her opinions even when the author of Seeds of Deception, Jeffrey Smith, noted that Monsanto is to be watched very careful. He cited courts in France and United States that convicted Monsanto for telling lies about glyphosate levels in the soil, and also the fact that the chemical has been connected to causing breaks in the altering DNA and the endocrine system.

Many other countries in the world have banned glyphosate. When will the United States follow that?

While problems surrounding glyphosate after health concerns carry on in the United States – especially getting people to ban it like in the other countries – some small strides have been made. Increased visibility from reports like this one and also on the popular TV shows like The Doctors, connected with more people expressing their concerns in many communities, speaks volumes about the will for changes to be put in place.

Unhappily, it would appear that the US has a long way to go. Probably, the topic of the glyphosate went ignored, during a recent FDA food label change discussion, by Michelle Obama. At the same time, many regions have banned this harmful chemical, including Sri Lanka, Canada and Colombia, which voted to end the aerial spraying of this chemical to kill coca plants in the fight on drugs.